Machine for making solid balls.



J. P. APPLEBY. MACHINE FOR MAKING SOLID BALLS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNEIZ, 1913.

Patented June 80, 19142.

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4 SHEETS-"SHEET l,

C 1v (J Y-bummer J. P. APPLEBY. MACHINE FOR MAKING SOLID BALLS. APPLICATION BIL/ED JUNE 12, 1913.

Patented June 30, 1914.

4 SHEETSSHEET 2.

J. P. APPLPBY.

MACHINE FOR MAKING soun BALLS. APPLICATION FILED JUNElZ. 1913. j}' Q 1 5?5 Patented 'June 30, 1914.

4 $HEETS-SHEET s.

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J. P. APPLEBY.

MACHINE FOR MAKING SOLID BALLS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 12, 1913.

Patented June 30, 1914.

4 SHBETSSHEBT 4,

ermsi Original ap il iciition filed November 25,

T6 all whom z't may concern :gz Be it"known that/I, JAMEs P. APPLEBY, of 'Ottumwa,-10,Wa, have, invented a new an iuseful Improvement in Machines for Mak ngt Solid- Balls, which invention is fully set forthfinthe following specification.

:This invention relates to improvements in -machines formaking solid balls and has for 'tits-object-truin-g and, reducing rough solid -'"10- met;alj b, 11s bycondensing and flaking oil thesurfac'eto any desired extent to true the -surface 'andaproduce the desired size and In the manufacture of, solidi metal balls,

=-':15,theba1ls prescnti-n thein first stages, hether Iinade-bycasting, turningor swagin vari one surface irregularities and imperfections offerin This is particularly {the case with balls swagedfrom rough piecesof wire; Such balls oftenpresent a peripheral ring about the equato'r of theball and also either raised or flattened poles depending on the size of -th'e'stoclr andcharacter of the dies used in shaping the metal. Nvith a view of? removing such-defects and of truin'g the balls, -.th ey:h'ave heretofore-been subjected to the tedious ope' ationi of: grinding and in the case'of steel balls this. operation is followed a subsequent and-separate step of hardenso 'ing whicli is apt to toughen the surface and require further treatment of thesurface to render itsmooth. l' have discovered that solid metal balls of :t'he character above referred to may be *t'rued' or reduced to size and hardened while "materially simplifying the operations by applyingpressure to successive portions of f'tlie surfaceof-the hall sufficient to condense fthe outer layers ofmctal and cause the shrfface to brealcinto flakes and separate off,

whereby the irregularities are rcduceda'nd removed. By the contini'iediapplication of this'operatioir the ball may be reducedto any idesiredend uniform size in a" rapid and satisfactory; manner. I i

, 191-2, of which thisjapplicationis a division, I have de scribedand l'aimed a process for making solid metal; bails hrhich briefly described consists'in'"forming or taking a solid metal 1 ball, such as a bail, made of steel, and sub jecti1ig it' to pressure applied progressively 1 over its surface and of sufiicient intensity to Sgiecificetion of Letters Patent. 1912," Serial No; 733,471. 12, 1913. Serial No.'773,336.

but, not a' polished surface. 1: roduced by the usual methods of abrasion which can now' he readiness, since the surface irregularities are minute. sity of less diameter swaged balls, therefore in making finished- ,halls tosize the swaged balls should have i stantially true In my mpending 'applicatlom'Serial' Nd,

f733,471,"file dNovember 25, ramp raceway into which qo si rsn s'rA'rEsrime @FFKGE r;- mumps orru viwA, rows, ASSIGNOR'DO JOHNSTON & sneer marmracyrunme comrsmr, or o'r'rumwa,

IOWA, A CORPORATION OF IOWA.

Macrame r012; MAKING SOLID semis.

Patented cameo, rare.

condense the surface layers of the metal on the undisturbed interior mass and while so condensing and stratifying thesurface to apply a sliding or frictional. pressure to the condensed layer to cause flaking and breaking up the stratified surface. In practice, it has been fonndthat 'the flakes from balls finishing to about 0.25 in. diameter may be very thin, calipering from .001 in. to .00025 in. The small amount of metal thus successively-removedin form of flakes enables very accurate truingof the balls.! In this operation the high irregularities are flaked off to the bottom of the depressions on the surface. and by a continuation of the operation the surface may be uniformly removed to reduce the diameter of the ball to any extent desired. The ball now presents a practically spherical form with a uniform, This may be eflectedwith ease and Balls thus treated are of necesthan the original diameters slightly in excess of the final dinmeter toallow for reduction. T he surface of the finished balls is condensed and bar- :dcned by the operation and is sufiiciently accurate for many uses demanded by the trade.

My intention resides in providing an automatically operating machine to carry out the vabove described method of making and vfinishing solid balls and to this end 1 have devised a machine in which su'aged balls may be subjected to a rolling pressure and sliding motion ,on a portion of the surface of each ball whereby successive portions over the entire surface of the ball are thus treatedto condense, stratify and flake oif the layers, thereby producing a ball with a subsurface of a given size.

My machine, as illustrated by way ofexle in the accompanyingdrawings, comprises a stationary grooved ring and a rev- -oluble exteriorly grooved disk located within the ring, the opposing grooves forming a the balls are fed. The stationary ring is formed with. a spring-- pressed section past which the balls are carried and are there subjected to yielding pres Divided and this application filed June 50 1; Fig. 3is as ('50 such as by bolts 4, one of which is s Flg. 4. Mounted in suitable bearings in-the sure, sufiicient to cause their surfaces to be- I come true in the manner explained. The halls after being subjectedto pressure under the spring-pressed section are then emitted to run loosely in the raceway, where they rattle together and separate the flakes from their surfaces. This operation of pressing I and fiakin ma 1 be repeated as often as regutted. 'l. ent e balls escape from the racel qf way by opening a trap section which. is

' adapted to be opened and closed automatically, after' a predetermined number of. revolutions of the disk. An au- .tom'atically operated feed device preferably supplies the balls to the groove and is controlled, to permit each charge of balls to remain under the-flaking action of the machine before they are discharged. The section of the ring which is yieldingly pressed toward the periphery of the disk and acts with the disk. to size the balls is made of i fiardened. steel. The remaining sections of the disk which do not sustain the work of sizing may be of softer metal. Thus when a ball comes between-the yielding section and the periphery of the revolving disk, the part of the ball in contact with the bottom of the I groove in the disk will travel at the same peripheral speed as does thedisk and the part of the groovewhich reaches u around the bait coming very closely to t e axial point of, the ball travels faster than that part of the ball. A sliding motion results while the ball is under heavy pressure. I The inner solid mass resists this pressure and en:

ables the surface or skin. of the ball to condense and fiake and disengage itselfthere- I {from The high spots are thus removed and I by continuing the flaking the grooves close I and the ball is reduced tov size- The flaking is assisted by presence ofyoil. In order that the invention may be more I readily understood, reference is had to the accompanying drawings, which are designed e5 merely as illustrations toassist the descri -tion of the'invention and-not as defining t e.

limits thereofin which Figure my: machin Fi 2'is a plan'view of Fig.- de'elevatio'nal view looking from the right hand side of.Iig. -1;'Fig. 4 is a view in vertical section taken on line of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a detail view of the feed driving means,.and Fig. 6 is sectional dos I 56 tail on line 6-' 6 of Fig.4.

Referring to Figs-Ito 3 of the 1 designates a dish-shaped bed'plate to which I standards 2, 3, for'supporting'partsof the machine are made fast by securi-n' meansown in uprights'-2--3 is a shaft 5 "driven by a belt;

pulley. To this shaft 5 is secured a disk 6, preferably of hardened steel in the periphcry of which is a semi-circular groove/I normally under spring tension b is a .view in end elevation of- :move'ment of the feeding disk' continues until the. last tooth 63 is reached-Which. resents'more surface than the othersgandt on I the movement of the disk stops/fora reI- determined time to allow the truin' o "erat-ion of the grooves to reduce the a s to "the. finished size when :they are iailtom iti-Y I which faces a corresponding groove 8,

6, in a stationary ring consisting of sections 9, 10, 11 and 12. Sections 10 and 12 of this ring are rigidly secured to a part 13 of the 1 standard 3 by bolts 14; Section 11 is pivotally supported to the same .part 13 ofv the standard 3 and section .9 which isof hardened steel is mounted in a bracket. arm 15 pivoted at -16 to the frame and it is secured in its place by screws 17. The bracket arm swaged balls to the truing grooyes comprises a stationary hopper 22 mounted on a plate 23 secured at one end to the framvand at the other end to a supportin rod-94. In plate 23 are one or morePofinings 25 lo cated withinthe delivery'end either) per and which are ada ted to register-wit openings 26, Fig. 5, ormed' in-a disk 27 -mounted to revolve about-a pin-28 which projects from a' late 29servingtosupport: disk 27 and to i I they are carried forward to a discharge I I channel 30 leading to the'truing-Igr OVeS. A step by stop motion is imparted to the ball feeding disk 27 by' ratchet mechanism and for this purpose'disk 27' is provided "with ratchet teeth 31' of uniform size, except one which will be described later. Referring more particularly to Figs. 2 and'5, a springpressed pawl 32 is mounted on ii-horizon tallyswinginglarni 33 which has'a iooseengagernent' with a verticalrocking arm '34 I 35 which rocks the arm fol-war when not otherwise-restrained. Rocking arm 34 is fast to one end of a shaft 36, to the opposite end of which is secured an arm 37 carrying a friction roller 38 contactin with a cam 3 39 on the main drive shaft 5. I t wiil be seen I fromthis construction that each revolution of the cam 39 actuatesjthe spring pawl 32 1115 forward and advances the ball feedlng disk 1 27 the distance of one tooth on it's eriphery, this distance corresponding to t e spaces between the cavities 26 in the disk27... This cally discharged from the grmve's FTo ef- .fect this result andto start thefeedin disk 27' rotating, the following meansjare' .providedi Beneath the.pivoted dischargel'to I old theballs in place as 95 a spring ratchet wheel 44 is a lever 45 carrying a to drop and discharge the balls from the truing grooves into the cup-sha ed base plate 1 or other receptacle. Cam disk receives its movement from a shaft 43, Fig.

3, to'one end. of which it is fast, the opposite end of shaft 43 being provided with a driving ratchet wheel 44 which determines by its rate of movement the times of opening and closing of the discharge section 11 depending on the length of time the balls are to remain in the machine or on the degree of accuracy as to size and finish desired.

ivotally mounted on the frame near the wheel 44. The-outer end of this lever 45 'is pivotally connected through member 47 with riction roller 50 riding on the surface of a cam 51 driven from main shaft 5 through a train of gears 52, 53 and 54, mounted on a bracket arm 56. and driven by gear wheel 55 on shaft 5. For each revolution of cam 51, pawl 46 advances ratchet wheel 44 one tooth at a a 'rockingarm 48. hinged at 49, Fi 3, to I the main frame. Arm 48 carries a ai time, and this movement is' transmitted to cam 40 through shaft 43. On cam 40 is a stud 5] which lies in the path of a projection 58 onr'lever 59 fulcrumed at 60 on a stationmy part of the machine. The upper end of lever .59 carries a spring-pressed pawl 61 adapted to engage the teeth of disk27 and normally tending to move forward under. the action of aspring 62. On feed disk 27 is one tooth 63 over 'which pawl 32 cannot;

normally 'iide, due to the fact that this tooth has a dwell portion longer than the throw of the pawl 32. When this toothis reached, pawl 32 does not advance the feed disk until the latter ismoved by pawl 61. This occurs when stud 57 engages projection 158 of lever 59 to draw pawl 61 back and then releases the lever to be acted on by spring 62 and thereby throw pawl 61 forward to advance disk 27 sufiicientl to permit pawl 32 to pass over the dwel tooth 63/ The feed disk .then begins another revolution. Just before this revolution begins the section 11 is lifted to close the ball-race b means of roller '42 which is lifted out of t e cam depression 41 by rotation of cam disk 40. The movement 7 of this disk 40 is so timed as to permit ample time for the balls in the truing grooves .to be properly reduced to size before it acts on section 11 to dischar e the balls.

The operation of t e machine will be read- 7 il y understood from thepreceding description. The balls as they come from the upsetting or forging machine and which are made nearly oft e desired size are placed in the 'hopper 22 and drop into the holes 26 in the feed disk 27 as it passes under the delivery end of the hop er. One by one the balls are dropped into c annelBO opening to the truing grooves 7 and 8. When the feed disk 27 has com leted one revolution the grooves are supp ied with the requisite number of balls on which to operate and the feed stops as the dwell tooth on the feed disk 27 reaches pawl 32. Each ball in succession 18 sub ected between the hardening section 9 and t e revolving disk 6 to a regulatedspring pressure and to the frictional flakinga ction of the sides of the groovejin the revolving disk 6 where the (inferential surface velocities of the sides of the groove and that of the balls occur, as above explained. The halls are carried around between the grooves in the stationary rin and the revohfin'g disk many times, there y assuring a uniform flaking of their surfaces before they are discharged from the machine.

I The balls delivered from.the machine may have flakes adherin to their surface. These may be removed by rattling them after wh ch the balls may. be polished in a ramble'or other suitable olishingfldevice.

' The spring 18 e sets the rolling of the Where great degree of accurac as to size balls until the inward movement of bracket 15 is arrested by step screw 21 which is so positioned that the balls are reduced to size at or about the time cam 40 acts to discharge the balls from the machine.

periphery of disk 6 its sides where they join with other sections of the stationary ring are cut away slightly as appears in Fig. 4.

lVhile I have described my machine as peculiarly adapted for truing solid ballsby flaking, I do not desire to limit its application to such use as it is capable of rolling hollow balls. 1

It will be'apparen't to those skilled in the art that, within the limits defined by the claims, there may be certain changes in the relative arrangement of the parts and in the mechanical form of the various elements entering into the structure, without departing from the spirit of my invention, and such variations are meant' to be included in the claims.

What is claimed is 1. In a machine for truing balls, a stationary interiorlygrooved ring, an exteriorlyt grooved disk revoluble within the ring, the

To permit proper adjustment of section 9 toward the opposing grooves forming a raceway in a.

1 v jre'mme 'saie, said ring being irovi ded with a spring-pressed section for contractingthe raceway and' 'applying pressure to the balls "advanced past It'by thedisk, and a gate section .operable'to openfand close the raceway.

5 2. In 4 machine fortrufing bangs stationmy ring having a b .revolubledisk within the ringend havmg a oo'vecl mner facejand e grooved Periphery, a section of said ring being yielding y held to its workingposition, and

means for feeding a predetermmed number of balls to the machine at predetermined-iii: terya 3-. Indm'achine for triiin'ghpiis; e stetion airy rin having a groov'edi'jmner face] and ay z; v,revolub e disk within the ringandhevingle grooved periphery, ,a section of s'a'id ring eihg-yieldingly held to its working -'posi;-

I tien, means for feeding af "predetermined nqmber of balls tothe machine atpredeter}. mmed intervals, and means for autometi 1 ,cally discha-rging the balls at .the end; of

' each of saidintervals;

1 1.;- machine ,fontrning balls, a ring havmg an 'lnner'grooved' face and comprls ing sections one of which is 'pix otally sup ported and yieldingly held to 'its- 'working' position and .0; cam operated discharge seeid ringjand" hevi ng'agr'ooved p -i h t 1 .-in sectidns-one-of which is' i'votail", s15

a ,y t P i ported am} yieldingly held inlxvorking plosi tion'lf and provided. with adjustable stop :means f0 r hmiting its movement, inone di-..

' "re'ction'yand Iadisk.rew olublein said ring and having mgrcov'ed periphery, the opposing "igroovesforrn-ing a raceway in" a POI'CIO-Dabf whichtheiballs 'may be rattled to remove iscal'e after they are' advancedhpast the sei d a'station'ary' platejheymg an opening r'egisa tering With sei'd channel and with the line of" time.

tion 'o fth'e feeding plate, and'meansfor'ad 'va meing said dwell portion 21st said ac tua.ting' pe'w'l toco ntinue' the fee ing operation;

vin%-operetion of said feeding plate.

said perforations, when rece v taclefednpteqf to discharge balls to said per ovations in the I e '50. plate, means for. rendering said rotating". means Ineffective to rotate the-plate afteri iiea ch revoluth'm,'an-dn eans for-again render" v revoluble' :plate, means for;rotating"seid ing the same-effectiveejter a predetermined 7; In a inttehine truing balls, grooved" tion the bell. feedin means.

8. In" a. maehine ior truing heli's, gr'o'o ved ipawl edkipted to engage 'saiti teeth and haw" mg "a throng insufficlent-to. carry it over'seid Idwell 'to thereby-"stop motion vthe feeei plate, discharge-means and means operating "to pen:an 1 close, 'sa'id discharge means. at).

a predetermined time after stopping opern- '9. In a machinefor t'ruinghalls, grooved inembers one of; wht h is revoluble; means; for automatically feeding a, predetermined .numbermf-baiis to said groove,.ball*dis charge meansqa'nd' means to open and closesaid discharge inezinsiet epredetermined, v time af-ter charging and to then 'set in operaring'membersone'gof which isrevolublfe', a-

by said opening and closing means forfstert 'f n testimony whereof I ha ve si'gned this specification in the presence of twosubscrib" RoYZWl'JoHxs'roN; v I

Z'balll feedingplatqme'ens,for imparting "to sziidPlatisa predetermined number of .intermitfent movements, ball discharge'means; and meansfor' opening'and c1osi'ngth'esameat a predetermined interval after each revo-Q 'lution of the feed-plate and means operated .fworkiilngseetioine bi mg witnesses. nq 'mac ine, or-.truing". a ls a ball 1 -j o 1 receiving channel, a 'revo111'b1e ball feeclin 4 K 45- plateha'ving a pluralityof'perforations an Witnes ses: Y 1 

